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The success of the first-ever national championships of the Milo Little Olympics should be credited to Ricky Ballesteros, the head of the organizing committee of the Milo competition.
After all, it was Ballesteros who suggested to hold a national competition for the Milo Little Olympics in 2003.
This stemmed after he was asked how he thought he could help raise the standards of the annual Milo regional sporting competitions.
?When you hold regional championships, athletes would always expect a national championships,? he said.
According to Ballesteros, he was surprised when it was announced in last year's regional championships that a national competition was scheduled to be held in Cebu.
In the 14 years Cebu City has hosted the regionals, Ballesteros said the national championships was his most memorable so far.
?It's a priceless experience for the athletes,? Ballesteros said.
The Milo Little Olympics used to be only held in Manila in 1987.
In 1996, organizers decided to hold the same event in Cebu for the Visayas region and on the next year, Mindanao followed suit.
Augustus ?Joy? Young, who was then a Cebu City Councilor, and Ballesteros, who was his executive assistant, spearheaded the organization of the event during its first undertaking in Cebu City.
The University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters clinched the first of their 14 secondary titles in 1996 while the Central district, composed of Talamban and San Nicolas, was the first champion in the elementary division.
From 1996 until now, the Cebu competition has consistently gathered the most number of participants, more than Manila could come up with.
Because of the large number of participants, organizers decided to bracket each school into districts to give athletes from public schools a chance to team up with athletes from private schools.
The district bracketing was changed back to inter-school competition after organizers saw that public schools realized that they have a chance against private schools.
It was also Cebu which added scrabble to the 11 events being contested in the Milo championships. It was at first played as an exhibition aport and after three years, was considered part of the medal tally.
In 2001, the Milo Little Olympics was merged with the Cebu City Olympics upon the suggestion of Michael Rama, who was then a councilor and took over Young as committee on Education chairman.
However, both events were once again separated in 2002. This was done to give the athletes more exposure in sporting competitions, which was essential for the development.
Aside from having the national competition for the first time, Milo also introduced this year the points system, upon the suggestion of Ballesteros, in determining the overall champion.
The points system, Ballesteros said, would give a chance for schools who have a complete lineup.
Asked what's the future of the Milo Little Olympics, Ballesteros said he hopes to someday make the event an international competition with delegates from other countries competing.
?Perhaps we could start with countries in Southeast Asia, but this would be up to Nestle Phils.,? he said.
An ambitious undertaking but nothing is impossible, Ballesteros said.
